Twelve Days of Brittana Christmas
by insaneantics21
Summary: Moments in Santana and Brittany's relationship set to "The Twelve Days of Christmas".


Merry Christmas =)

* * *

**Twelve drummers drumming, eleven pipers piping…**  
_December 16, 1998_

Like most kids, December was Santana Lopez' favorite month. She was proud that she could recite all twelve of them and was the only one except for Rachel Berry that had the ability to do so in her entire class. Even that smartie-pants Quinn Fabray got June and July mixed up.

December meant snow, though. And snow meant Christmas. And Christmas meant Santa Claus and presents. However, it also meant she had to go to her big brother's band concert again that year which was pretty much the least fun anyone could have on a December evening. Santana would much rather have been throwing snowballs at Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman.

"Mami, I don't want to go," Santana whined. "I wanna stay home."

"It's only a few hours, mija. We'll have hot chocolate tonight, okay?"

Santana sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, determined only to be good because there was still time to make it onto Santa's naughty list. She watched people shuffle by, parents of all of the other kids in band with their cameras and happy smiles on their faces. Santana kicked her feet a few times and squirmed in her seat until someone crawled up into the seat next to her and sighed.

"Mama," a little voice whimpered, "we can't stay. Mittens will read my diary again."

"Hush, Brittany. Your Papa works hard to get the kids ready for their concerts; we need to support him, don't we?"

Santana turned her head to look at the girl, Brittany, that had climbed up next to her. Her blonde hair was in soft curls over the shoulders of her red Christmas dress. Her eyes were crystal clear blue, the bluest Santana had ever seen. She remembered seeing Brittany a few times on the playground; she was in one of the other kindergarten classes.

"I don't wanna be here either," Santana grumbled.

"My cat reads my diary if I leave him alone."

"I read my sister's. She talks about boys a lot. It's gross."

"Boys are gross."

Brittany jumped as a cymbal went crashing to the ground when the first band walked into the gymnasium. The drummers all groaned, the rest of the band snickered and laughed until the director shushed them. Santana and Brittany went back to whispering throughout the concert; their mothers traded information on playdates and out of that, a friendship was born.

**Ten lords a'leaping, nine ladies dancing…**  
_December 18, 2004_

Santana squirmed in her seat with excitement, Brittany's mother on one side of her and her father on the other, ready to watch her best friend's Christmas dance recital in which Brittany had a solo she'd been practicing for weeks. The minutes ticked by, Brittany's mother checked her watch a few times and Santana started getting a little restless knowing that the recital should've started what seemed like hours ago. She knew there was trouble when Brittany's dance teacher approached the three of them with a concerned look on her face.

"Brittany refuses to dance," the teacher whispered. "She says she's too nervous."

It was all Santana needed to hear. She jumped out of her chair and raced backstage to the dressing room where she'd left Brittany earlier that evening. Eight other girls and ten boys were waiting in their lines, glancing at the dressing room door every now and then. Santana paid them no attention as she burst in; Brittany was standing in the corner with her head down, wringing her hands in front of her.

"Britt?"

"I can't move," Brittany mumbled. "I'm too scared."

"How come?"

"I'm afraid to mess up."

"You've practiced for forever, Britt. You're gonna kick butt."

"It's my first solo."

"But you're the best dancer ever. Everybody's waiting for you, come on." Santana stepped forward and reached out to put a hand on her best friend's shoulder, causing Brittany to turn around and cling on to her tightly. Santana smiled and returned the embrace, running her hands up and down Brittany's back to sooth her.

"You'll be watching, right?"

"I will, promise."

Brittany nodded and took a deep breath and, with Santana's hand in hers, walked to the edge of the stage. Santana flashed a huge smile and pecked Brittany's cheek before letting go and bouncing back to her seat.

Brittany didn't miss a single beat of her solo.

**Eight maids a'milking, seven swans a'swimming, six geese a'laying…**  
_December 20, 2007_

"Britt, seriously, I'm freezing my ass off! Why are we here?"

Santana shivered and pulled Brittany closer as they walked around the small farm Brittany had dragged them to for a Christmas tree lighting. Supposedly it was the 6th largest Christmas tree in Ohio or something special like that. Brittany had gone with her parents every year, Santana always found a way out of it. Until this year. She'd slipped up by saying she wasn't doing anything and so now here she was, stepping in who the hell knows what, to watch lights on a tree. Brittany giggled excitedly as they walked through barn where a woman was giving a demonstration on milking a cow and the blonde gasped and pointed at geese and swans nestled under heat lamps.

"Come on, San! The tree is huge!"

"It's a tree, it's stupid."

"Whatever, you'll like it."

Santana growled.

The tree was actually pretty huge and the lights were nice. Brittany's face glowed as she looked all up and down the tree, absolutely mesmerized. Santana felt a pull in her stomach, the same one she'd been feeling for months when she was with her best friend, as she gazed at Brittany's excited face. She knew what it meant. It terrified her and thrilled her at the same time.

"B?"

The first thing Santana noticed when Brittany looked down at her was the fact that she could see the lights reflected in Brittany's eyes…and it was really, really pretty.

"Yeah?"

"I…I like you."

"I like you too, silly."

Santana shook her head. It was now or never. She leaned in and pressed her lips against Brittany's in a soft kiss. Her _first_ kiss.

"What was that for?" Brittany whispered.

"I told you. I like you."

"Okay."

"The tree is really pretty, B."

Brittany grinned. "I told you that you'd like it."

"I do. And I kinda want to kiss you again."

"So do it."

Santana did.

**Five golden rings…**  
_December 3, 2000_

"What'd you get?"

Brittany bounced up and down excitedly as Santana pried open the little plastic container she'd gotten from a dispenser at the supermarket. They had bundled up and walked to get milk with Brittany's mother and Brittany had spotted the jewelry dispenser on their way out and begged her mother to give them one of the quarters to get something.

"I don't know, B. It's hard to get open."

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

"I'm trying!"

Santana worked and worked and finally popped the lid off of the bubble. She pulled out a plastic bag and out of it fell two "gold" rings into her palm.

"Those are really pretty," Brittany gasped. She snatched one of the rings out of Santana's hand and grinned as she slipped it onto her best friend's ring finger (it was on the wrong hand but Santana didn't say anything). Santana took the remaining ring and put it onto Brittany's finger and watched the blonde's face light up with excitement.

"Does this mean we're married now?"

Santana shrugged. "I guess. You wanna be married?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, we're married."

_December 25, 2015_  
Santana sat staring at the Christmas tree set up in her living room, still glowing as it had been that morning when she unwrapped gifts with her family. There were bits of paper still left underneath it and one box unopened. The recipient of said box came bouncing into the living room with two cups of hot chocolate and gracefully dropped to the floor next to Santana, smile wide and eyes bright.

"There's one more present, B," Santana whispered.

"You gave me a sweater."

"This is your real present."

Santana reached forward and grabbed the small box, her heart racing and her breathing getting a little shallow. She wanted this more than anything on Earth and she was damn determined to get it. To get _her_. Her girl. Not anyone else's.

"That's a really small box, San."

"I know. Open it."

Brittany nodded and clicked open the small velvet box, the smile immediately dropped from her face as she peered inside and ran her fingertips over the gold ring with attached diamond that rested inside.

"It's a ring."

"Yeah, B, it is."

"Why?"

"I want to marry you."

"We're already married."

"The plastic rings, I know. But I want to do it for real."

"For really real?"

"Yeah. Will you marry me?"

Santana smiled as Brittany pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it onto the incorrect ring finger (Santana had given up teaching her the difference between left and right a long time ago) and smiled at the diamond sparkling from the Christmas tree lights.

"Let me, babe," Santana whispered as she slipped the ring off and held onto Brittany's left hand to place the ring correctly. "So…what's your answer?"

Brittany grinned and lunged forward to tackle her fiancée to the ground and kiss her soundly.

"Yes."

_December 16, 2017_  
Santana smiled up from the arms of her now wife in the hotel bed they shared after their wedding reception had died down and the pair was able to sneak off to get a start on their honeymoon. Brittany was smiling happily, as she always did, and running her fingers through Santana's hair. The wedding had been small, the reception a huge party where one Quinn Fabray drunkenly professed her undying love for Rachel Berry and the fact that she had been in love with her since freshman year of high school. Before Rachel could respond, Quinn lost all of the alcohol she'd consumed all over whoever was standing next to her. Santana stopped paying attention after Rachel took Quinn to the bathroom and the pair returned all smiles and with very visible bruises on their necks.

"I like being married," Brittany whispered.

"Me too."

"We're gonna stay married forever, right?"

"Of course babe."

"Okay."

Santana snuggled deeper into Brittany's side and held up her left hand, a simple gold band resting on her ring finger. A matching ring rested on Brittany's hand and sparkled just as much when she held it up to gaze. The gold rings shined in the dim light coming in from the outside window and Santana smiled, knowing that she was going to get to spend many, many more December nights with the love of her life snuggled right beside her. The start had been rough but oh how the future was going to be different.

**Four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.**  
_December 12, 2009_

"San, do we have to?"

"You can't keep it, Brittany. Bambi said she'd call your parents if you kept it in your locker."

"What if the other birds don't like him?"

"They will. It's a freakin' bird sanctuary, he'll make friends."

"There are a lot of birds here."

"Yeah, see. Now take him out of the box and put him in a tree somewhere."

Santana watched as Brittany carefully pried the box open and reached in to gently grasp onto the bird she'd been keeping as a pet. The bird fluttered a little bit and trembled as Brittany walked with it to find the perfect tree. Santana had long given up on getting frustrated with her best friend because, eventually, what Brittany wanted, she got. So she walked with her, looking at various trees and poking at limbs before Brittany found a suitable home for her bird friend.

"He'll be happier out here, Britt."

"I know."

"Let him go, alright?"

Brittany nodded and reached up to place the bird on a branch, it fluttered its wings and hopped a few times before pecking Brittany's hand softly and jumping around on the different branches.

"He likes the tree," Brittany said with a grin. "I knew he would. It's a pear tree."

"Yeah babe."

"You think he'll find a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend?"

"I don't know."

"I love you, San."

Santana jumped back, startled by Brittany's confession, and tried desperately to look anywhere but crystal blue eyes that captivated her every single time she even caught a glance. It wasn't like she hadn't thought about it but commitment and love and forever was just way too overwhelming despite the fact that Brittany still brought up the fact that they'd exchanged rings just a few years before. Santana felt her heart start racing and her breathing get shallower as Brittany inched forward to kiss her.

"Britt…"

"I know you love me, too. You just can't say it."

"I can't…"

"I know. But I know we'll be together forever. We're gonna get married someday."

Later that night, with Brittany fast asleep and snuggled into Santana's side, Santana kissed the top of her best friend's forehead and sighed.

"I love you, too, B. I always have. I always will. Please just be patient with me."

"Told you."

"Damn it."


End file.
